Strange Bedfellows

I have been crossing a picket line lately, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. My home state of Rhode Island gave me plenty of examples of bad union behavior: nepotism, corruption, shoddy work. I developed a deep feeling that although they may have been good at one point in history, they had outgrown and outlasted that point. They were a victim of their own success. Now that laws protected workers and wages, there wasn’t much more for them to fight over except ever higher wages and even more benefits. So it wasn’t a big deal to me that when a local company had a lockout, that I worked a position that was available. (The company’s contract offer wasn’t sweet enough for the union. Never mind that most people in the country are getting fired or reduced wages, the union wanted higher wages and better benefits... see the first paragraph). The wages are among the highest I’ve ever had, and the benefits are more generous than anything else I’ve heard of. So it is a good opportunity for me. So what is the problem? Republicans. I’m Independent, but lean Democrat. Mostly Republicans make my skin crawl. But when they announced a war on unions, it wasn’t a big deal to me. Let them, I thought. What inspired them to make teachers, police, and fire fighters their first targets? Those are good, helpful people. That’s who they think are ruining the country? I can’t support that sort of narrow-minded anti-intellectualism. So that's the problem. Do I continue to support busting a union, even though it looks as though I support the Republicans’ broader platform?

Product Love

The first new car I ever bought was a 1999 Subaru. Sturdy, efficient, hardly complaining, it outlasted my marriage, took several cross country trips, and faithfully hauled cargo.

After a decade of use, I drove it across country yet again, and it did just fine.

I recently took it on a modest-length trip, about twelve hours distant. On the way it achieved 238,570 miles- the average distance to the moon. I've driven the equivalent of going to the moon. I don't have a picture of the odometer with those miles on it, though, because I am actually on my second odometer, I wore the first one out at 100,000 miles. That, in itself, is amazing to me. I can remember when cars didn't even have space on the odometer for 100,000 miles- and now my car is wearing them out. The leap ahead in quality is encouraging.

The amazing part about the trip was that I almost didn't make it to the moon. Several hundred miles short of that goal, the engine started bucking, shuddering, and refusing to run above a certain speed. We were in the Dakota hinterlands, and had little choice but to push on as best we could, even if slowly. We puttered along, eventually reaching a small town mechanic that agreed that the engine had a serious problem, and wished us luck in reaching a big city where somebody could fix it.

We limped on dutifully, the top speed the car would tolerate steadily dropping lower. It was a wondrous sight to turn that corner and realize we had made the city. The dealership was very convenient, and we made the mileage goal just before dropping the car off at the mechanic.

We feared driving it like that had caused fatal damage to the engine, and when they diagnosed that we had broken one of the timing chains, we were sure it was time for a new car. A bearing had also collapsed, the ball bearings getting so hot that when they fell onto the belt cover, some melted through it and some welded themselves into it.

But the mechanic put a new chain on it, and fixed the bearing.... and did a compression test that was as good as some new cars...and started it up... and we drove away.

The slogan is 'Love. It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru.' THIS is why I love my Subaru.